Warm October, Cold November?

After an unseasonably warm October, colder temperatures have arrived in Fairbanks. The temperatures weren't the only thing strange about last month. Usually, there's a few inches of hard snowpack by the middle of the month, but we had stayed snow-free until the 31st. Once November 1st rolled in, we said goodbye to the 50's and 60's we were enjoying and said hello to the 20's. Still, we are warmer than is average for this time of year.

I like to think that we got a warm October because of the previously long, long winter; the longest winter on record. I really have no idea what will happen this or the months to come. Every winter up here had been different in its own way. This time, however, I will be a little bit more comfortable.

On Saturday morning, I slid into Auto Trim Design off of S. Cushman (roads are icy now), and scheduled an appointment to have auto-start installed in my truck. Sure, they are expensive. Yes, you can start your car for free. In the dead of winter, it is such a chore to go through the motions to simply warm up your vehicle. It'll save a lot of time and effort on my part if I could just push a button and continue to work.

Back to snow. We have just an inch maybe of snow still on the ground. It's not enough to pretty things up too much, but more appears to be on the way. Winter sports enthusiasts rejoice! My bike has been itching to float on some fresh powder, and I have already seen some fat tire tracks in the snow.

It may get down to normal temperatures eventually, but I feel lucky to have had it so easy so far. Winters can be really tough for the unprepared. I'm ready to take the (temperature) plunge.

Wautumn is Here! Prepare for Winter!

Under my shoes, you can hear the crunch of yellow fall leaves and...snow?

Two. We have had two snow storms roll through Fairbanks this month. Needless to say, the snow is early, really early. Ever since I moved up to Fairbanks from Texas we have had unusual weather, or so they tell me. Most of the snow has disappeared except in the shady spots, and the leaves haven't completely died. A lot of trees are still green!

Strange to see the green, yellow, and white all getting along together, at least for now. Winter is coming green or not, and I have already swapped out my summer tires for my studded winter ones. Another helpful winter accessory would be getting auto-start (or remote start) installed in my truck this year. Don't get me wrong. I love having to disrupt my daily routines to:

• bundle up
• run (duck walk) outside
• start my truck
• run (duck walk) back inside
• un-bundle
• do something for a few minutes
• bundle up again,
• jump into my truck and go

Auto-start is a bestseller in Fairbanks. Many times, when you leave a hockey game, cars will roar to life as you walk to your cold, sad vehicle. You are forced to sit in coldness while others walk to their warm, bright vehicle that has auto-start. It is like having a small hand-held butler minus all the other butler stuff, of course. Maybe it comes with a hot chocolate dispenser?

They can be as costly as you want them to be. How far will you (or will you not) go to start your car is the question. Some will work only with line-of-sight while others will work a mile away. The fancier models have a screen on the fob that will let you know if you successfully started your car. What service!

These things need to be done before winter hits. Otherwise, all of the automotive shops will be flooded (snowed in?) with procrastinators, leaving you stranded and cold.

We will see if I indeed get auto-start installed this year or not. It is an investment for sure, but it'll save time and possible head injuries from slipping on the ice.

Another thing: why hasn't auto-start taken off in the blazing hot states? I'm looking at you Texas.

Shake it Off!

"Greetings!"
...

"Where is everybody?"

"They all left."

"Ahh! Who said that?!"

"Your previous blog posts." *cough, hack, wheeze*

"Oh. Well. What should I do now that I am here?"

"Continue writing. That's the only way they will come back here. Otherwise, this will all fall into the Nothing."

"Ah... Wait! What? A Neverending Story reference? Seriously?"

"Why not? We posts are all originally cut from the same literary cloth, aren't we?"

"Gosh. I don't know. I was hoping this wouldn't get all philosophical. I mean, I just write about what I see in Alaska, you know? So many things up here are different from the rest of the country, and nobody Outside really knows what it is like."

"Very true, but I do hope that you find your way. Many times, blogs like this one have fallen away into shadow, never to be seen again. You have much work left in you. I can see that."

"You think so? Really? Hmmm. There's a list of topics I've been meaning to write about sooner or later. Plus, all of the crazy Alaskan things I have taken part in, too. Maybe there are some more posts left for me to write. Starting up again seems so difficult, though!"

"For many, it is difficult. Most would only have to begin writing a post or two before the inspiration returns to them. All journeyers lose their way, but it only takes a step in the right direction to put them back on course."

"There's that philosophical gunk again. One step, eh? I can do that."

"Good luck!"

"Thanks! I--Whoa! Where'd you go? ...Looks like I am going on alone from here. Starting out alone, anyhow. Shake it off! Let's go!"

Driving to California!

Winter has arrived in Fairbanks! There's some snow on the ground, and the temperatures are now below freezing most of the time. Things just look better covered in clean, white snow. Plugging in the vehicles at night is back as the lows recently have been in the single digits at my cabin. In other news, a friend of mine recently moved his family to Modesto, CA. Now, he is back in town and will be driving his van back. Since it is dangerous to go it alone, he asked me to tag along. I naturally had to say yes. The Alaska Highway is a very adventurous and scenic drive. Who doesn't love a good road trip? There will be a winter blog complete with photos upon my return to Alaska. I have taken next week off to give us plenty of time to get down there. By the sound of it, I will be wearing my shorts again! Until then have a great week everyone!

Fall Follies in Fairbanks, Winter Coming Soon

The timing of this blog post is a little off for Fairbanks, but it is probably closer to those of you in the Lower 48. Fall is pretty much over up here. The leaves have all disappeared completely, the air is still, and everyone is looking anxiously to the horizon to see if snow is coming. Well, enough talk about winter. Let’s talk about fall.

Now, Alaska has plenty of trees that change color in the fall. What sets Alaska apart are the fall colors of the tundra. Now that is cool! All of the stunted foliage turns bright yellow and red, making the landscape look like a Photoshop image gone wrong, but it is very real. A trip to Denali National Park is not only a great way to take in all of the colors but also to see some of the wildlife preparing for winter (there’s that word again, sorry).

As for myself, I am glad that winter has been put off for a bit. My cabin needs a few adjustments to make it winter-ready. I have put on the shrink wrap on my big windows. It is nothing more than a big sheet of plastic wrap and double-sided tape that has been shrunk using a hair dryer. However, having that extra layer of air between you and sub-zero temperatures makes a huge difference.

Another task that has yet to be completed is new weather-stripping around my door. Last winter I had stuffed blankets under the door to keep the cold out (and keep the expensive heat in). No more! I want some good stripping to put around my door. Oddly, this stuff is hard to find so far.

Over the weekend I helped a friend load and unload a truck-load of 8-9 foot firewood logs. Man, that is a lot of work, and they aren’t even split yet! I would love to have a wood stove in my cabin because they give off a lot of heat and are more charming than, say, an oil stove that clicks and smells like oil. However, they are a lot of work and not necessarily cheaper. Perhaps someday I will have both in my awesome cabin that I built with my two hands.

Masculine hypotheticals aside, I am almost ready for winter to arrive. I am sorry to not have any cool time-lapse videos up for my time-lapse challenge. The weather wasn’t very attractive all week. I will reschedule it for when the snow starts falling. That, I think, will be more entertaining than the cloudy, hazy weather we have been having.

To all of you down south, enjoy your prospective fall seasons in proper fashion. The next post will likely feature the white stuff! 

Star Trails Timelapse Video

Hey everyone,

Well, I had a busy night getting this timelapse all set up. I was a bit worried about leaving my camera outside for a long period of time, but there was no way I was staying up all night to watch it either. So, I left it out to do its thing and capture hundreds of images of stars.

Then I processed the images in photoshop to create the star trail effect. I did manage to get one shooting star early on if you can see it. The video is a bit dark, and I don't feel like messing with it too much. It was a test after all. I hope that you all enjoy it. The timelapse challenge will probably start the first of October, and extend for at least a week.

We shall see how it all turns out. If you have any timelapse subject ideas please post a comment so I can try it out.

Timelapse Challenge

Hey everyone,

A thought entered my head the other day concerning timelapse photography. I think I may try to produce a timelapse video every day for a week or maybe a month (gosh!). They are fun and don't require a whole lot of attention so they won't interfere with my work too much. It sounds like a fun experiment, and I was wondering if any of you had any thoughts on the subject. Ideas are welcome, too.

Here is a video I just made while working in the hallway. I used a high f-stop and took 1 second exposures for around half an hour. When winter comes I would like to do a full timelapse showing the sun rising and setting since it barely does either one. It is a fun process that I would like to explore some more.

Thoughts?

Summer Vacation is Over, Recent Auroral Activity

Well, my blogging hiatus is over like the 24 hours of daylight we've had. I must say I have missed writing about Alaska happenings, and believe me there has been a lot going on up here. My goal is to be able to share my summer adventures very soon. Most of the photographs have been edited and posted in the Alaska Photography section. I am in the process of re-tooling that page as well.


Recently, with the coming darkness, it has been possible to view the very active aurora. Massive solar flares have been colliding with the earth's atmosphere, causing impressive auroral displays. I thought I would share a few photos along with my first timelapse video of the aurora. It was more of a test run, but I think it is still a neat clip.






While I was taking the shots, a charming couple from the UK stopped by and chatted with me. I hope that the weather hasn't completely ruined their time in Denali, but that is definitely the norm. Look for more cooler timelapse videos on this blog in the near future.

Writer's Ice Block

                       Photo from http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

Well, it certainly has been a long time since my last post. In the past couple months of quiescence, my life has been anything but. From super solar flares, the Yukon Quest, local tumult, and the World Ice Art Championships, Fairbanks is constantly on the move. I will have to write/explain most of these things in greater detail (and with photos!) than I will be doing now, but this post is more of a teaser, I suppose.

Break-up (goodbye to ice) is coming soon, and people in town speak of it constantly and with great anticipation. I, for one, am excited for the change and can feel the excitement building within myself. Today we have surpassed the 12 hour daylight point by a few minutes. With Daylight Savings it is even more apparent that spring has almost arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska. Happy equinox!

The tripod is on the ice of the Nenana River which means it is time to buy a ticket and guess what time the tripod will crash into the water, officially announcing the start of break-up. This tradition has been going on for 94 years and is a popular lottery throughout all of Alaska. It began back when the Alaska Railroad was being constructed.

The workers, bored to ice tears, would place bets on when the ice would break up, allowing boats and supplies to reach them. Word of the lottery spread throughout Alaska, and now it has paid out nearly $10 million since its inception (good movie). Last year’s pot was around $280,000! Price to play is only $2.50 a guess, but it has to be to the minute!

Speaking of melting ice, my garden area should be thawing out soon enough. Another goal (there are many) for this summer is to establish a healthy vegetable/herb garden. For reasons maybe not too obvious, Alaskans have amazing gardens! The chief reason is the incredible amount of sunlight during the summer (almost 24 hours!) we receive.

If this goal is achieved, I will report its success with much aplomb and selflessness (if failure, then quiet reflection). Well, this is all that I care to write since this post is getting too long for the attention span of most readers. There will be more to come once I sort and edit my digital pile of photos and HD videos.




Cheers!

The Antler: Extreme Home Edition

I sat in row 34 E, the middle seat in the back of a Continental jet. The plane was late, very full, and leaving at 1 am. This was not going to be a good flight.

This post is coming not from Alaska, but from my new home in Texas. In the short time since I left my home and made the drive to Alaska, my parents made some life changes of their own. My father picked me up from the airport, but drove me to a new home, a different home.

The last time my parents moved, I was four years old. So, I am a little emotional about this "uprooting". In other news, I have accomplished what I had set out to do in the last blog post, namely make a few time-lapse videos of the short winter days in Fairbanks. They are located at the end of this blog post.

Temperatures in Texas are 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit greater than what I am used to. Also, there is abundant sunshine which has been wonderful. However, it has not been a vacation because my parents are still moving things to the new house. In addition, the old house needs some work before it is placed on the market.

I do miss Fairbanks and all of it's many quirks. Leaving was strange because it felt like I had just arrived. School has a way of distracting you from the passing of time. I am thankful for the change and look forward to returning soon.

Cold Snap: Oh, Snap!

Well, it appears that our warm winter is over. The highs and lows here have stayed well below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Tonight may be the coldest night yet with a range from 35-45F below! I have found where the insulation in my cabin is not sufficient. It is mainly around the edges of my front door. There is actually frost on the inside near the locking mechanism!

The aurora must be cold too because I have not seen it in quite a long time. The outside of my cabin needs some shoveling especially on my "party deck". there is 1-1.5 feet of snow on it, and I am afraid that if more gets piled on there it will collapse. I have a new hat and pair of mittens to keep me warm. Long underwear is next on my list.

I also rigged up a full-spectrum light alarm clock. It has been getting harder and harder to get up in the mornings since it is so dark, and this is my solution. It worked like a charm this morning even though the timing was a bit early. Not a big issue. School is almost over which means deadlines are very close! I have a couple of weeks to finish up my grading and turn in some papers and projects.

I think my next blog will have some timelapse photos of the rising and setting sun. I think that will interest some people. Be looking for that sometime this week perhaps.

Rain Day: Part Deux

Raining non-stop. Over an inch or rain (=ice) on some roads. School canceled because of the warmth!

Warm it is here in Fairbanks. Jackets are missing for the most part as temperatures hover above the freezing point. The roads are improving as the ground slowly thaws out. I managed to escape the slushy grasp of my driveway as the many inches of hard-packed snow gave way. Having a two-wheel drive truck in Alaska is definitely a humbling experience.

I keep on taking the risk of leaving my cabin because it is the only way to learn how to drive in icy conditions. I just remember what I was taught many years ago in driving school (yes, I went to "school"). It is fair to say that Alaska never has "snow days", but it has "rain days". Forty below should not slow you down any!

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but concentrating on driving is a top priority for me. Also, I do not want to stop moving because I may never get the darn truck moving again! Momentum is an important part in gaining traction, I have found. Luckily, the rain will be switching over to snow tonight as the temperatures plummet to the negatives once again (Luckily?). It is true that I get annoyed when it warms up here.

For now I am sitting in College Coffeehouse grading my babel-sized stack of papers.

Danger: ICE!

It is dark and rainy out on the roads. The ground still clings to the cold temperatures from bygone days. conditions are perfect for turning the roads into skating rinks.

An unusually warm pocket of air has affected almost all of Alaska today, and no one is happy about it. With the air temperature rising, the snow has turned into rain while the ground remains below freezing. Fairbanksans are finding the roads here downright impassible in many areas.

There are reports of multiple car pileups on the highway and many more in ditches scattered across town. I left my cabin this morning with the reasoning that the best way to learn how to drive on ice is to do it. Talley ho! As soon as I left my cabin, I saw the Gray Line city bus in the ditch surrounded by flares. No good.

I crept along at a snail's pace, giving the three cars in front of me enough room for me to stop. Stopping is not easy, however. Even the tiniest change in speed seemed to cause trouble and loss of traction. Oh, to have four-wheel drive right now! I had escaped Farmers Loop Road, but then had to tackle the hill to upper campus.

Progress was good up until the halfway point whereby my tires ceased to grip the road. The truck came to a halt and slid backwards until the tires regained traction. I was in a bit of a quandary. How do you get an object with no traction up a steep hill? The answer is you cannot. Sitting in the idling truck, I though long and hard about how to solve this dilemma.

A man in a navy blue UAF truck pulled up and offered a solution. He got out and slid (not walked) to my truck and tossed salt under my wheels. After trying this several times, but to no avail, he left me with the promise of a gravel truck. Cars behind me were annoyed and attempted to go around me. They eventually slid back to where I was, much to my amusement.

Once the gravel truck arrived, I was able to gain traction and head up to upper campus. Classes were canceled of course, but I came up here for the experience and to work. It is still dark outside, but lightening up a bit. I hope the ice is taken care of soon!

Winter: The Signs

It was dark and cool when I pulled into my snowy driveway. As I walked up to my cabin everything seemed normal until I heard a rustling, crashing sound to my right. I stopped in my tracks immediately.

Moments passed as the list of large animals that could possibly be out there flashed through my mind. Moose? Bear? Sarah Palin?

Suddenly, I heard another crashing sound to my left. This time I could see it. Snow sliding off of my slanted metal roof. I breathed a sigh of relief and entered my cabin a little wiser. 


Winter is definitely here in Alaska. The signs can be seen all around town. The easiest one to spot is the marshmallow blob on cars. The snow in Fairbanks is not like the snow in most places. It is very dry and powdery. In fact, it is so dry that you cannot make a snowball or a snowman with it. This also help when you want to get the snow off of your car in the morning. You can simply brush it off with little effort. You do have to make sure that you dust off your license plate, too!


 

Another sign is the large amount of cars in ditches. Apparently, the people of Fairbanks forget that ice is inherently slippery. Winter happens every year people! Plus, it lasts for the majority of the year! How can you forget to drive carefully on ICE! Sigh.

The remedy for this problem is the next sign. Namely, the whirring, clicking sound of studded snow tires. These are a must for those who have 2-wheel drive (me), who are magically drawn to ditches, who like the movie Tokyo Drift, or those who are from Colorado (You people only THINK you can drive on ice).


Amazingly, this leads into the next one perfectly (witch!(warlock?)). There is an abundance of snow plows/blowers buzzing about. These can come in all sizes from hand-propelled to massively large trucks the size of Brittney Spear's trailer (home?). I even have a buddy in the snow-plowing business (plow my driveway, Joe!). 


This last one may be the most obvious as well as the oddest. The sun tends to race across the sky at a rapid pace (lower angle, too!). I have definitely noticed this recently. It is not uncommon to get up and go to school/work and completely miss the day. Currently, it starts getting dark around 3 pm with a sun rise around 9:30am. I try to make an an effort to go outside and do errands during the daylight hours. If not, then it can do weird stuff to your body. 


Well, I hope y'all enjoy Fall wherever you are. I am sorry for the lack of posts recently. School. That is my excuse. There will be more to come soon, I promise. 

Sun Dog-Taken at "high" noon

Strange light spires formed in the icy atmosphere.

View facing South from Farmers Loop Road by my cabin.

View facing West towards my cabin.

Vanity Plates: README

If you drive anywhere in Alaska for a short period of time you will begin to notice the high quantities of vanity plates. Now, I wouldn’t describe Alaskans as vain since most look like the Gordon’s Fisherman or the crazy prospector, Gabby Johnson, from Blazing Saddles (rerin!), but they do have vanity in other forms.
 

For one, they take their state pride way too seriously. I haven’t felt this discriminated against since I visited China and all because I am a Texan. I don’t seem to recall making fun of people because they were from Vermont while living in the Lone Star State. “How does it feel to be from the second largest state?” is one jeer that I received recently. But I digress.

40BLOW, RAVENS, and TI3VOM are some of the colorful plates I have seen. A creepier one spotted recently was LVBSKT. I think the reason why people get these plates is the fact that they are easy to create on the DMV website (and fun!). They are also inexpensive compared to other states.

I still have my good ‘ole Texas plates on my truck for now, but a time will come when I will probably need to get Alaska plates. Should I choose to get vanity plates, I would have to have a pretty good 6-character combo to put on there.

Any ideas?

Moose: Golly Gee Bulwinkle!

Probably not since watching Rocky and Bullwinkle have I been exposed to a moose. But in Alaska, look around! There are moose by the dozens here! Now, I know that moose are found all around the northern latitudes of the world, but none so large and iconic as these.

In one day I came across four moose within a span of a couple of hours, two of which, trotted in front of my truck. One thing I have noticed is the elusiveness of the bull moose. So far, I have only seen the cows and calves. My friend’s father, Jim, who joined me for the drive up with me to Alaska, claims to have seen one while we were driving. 

Perhaps later in the year when they are in rut (mating season) will I finally see one. My only hope is that I have my camera handy. Out of all the Alaskan mammals, moose seem the least concerned with bipedal mammals such as us. They have no real natural predator except for the bloodthirsty Bronco or the feisty Forrester. 

A moose’s innermost thoughts are mainly centered on fresh tree shoots and soggy pond scum. The pond scum is eaten as a sodium supplement, apparently. It’s kind of nasty to watch if you ask me. Once the mating season is over I hope to come across some freshly shed moose antlers. You can never have too many antlers in Alaska! 

Besides playing moose roulette with my truck, my second biggest concern is bumping into an 8-foot, 1000 pound beast on the way to my outhouse. I keep forgetting to look around me because the intoxicating effect of sleep clouds my thoughts in the morning. Why am I concerned? Well, because moose attack more people than bears and wolves combined! 

Most people do not know that moose are dangerous. This is probably due to their dorky appearance. Those skinny legs and bulbous upper-body appear slow and clunky, but they are anything but. A moose can charge at speeds of 35 m.p.h., easily outrunning any human. On top of that, their massive hooves can smash your neck with one single blow. Did I mention they have teeth, too? 

So, it is best to leave these bulky behemoths alone, and enjoy them from a safe distance. I have no idea why a squirrel and moose became friends, but rest assured that that squirrel would have been trampled to death a long time ago in real life. Yeah, I know, it’s not the best way to end a blog, but that’s real life, people. It ain’t* pretty sometimes.



*I am from Texas and have permission to use “ain’t” like it’s a word.

Autumn Is Here!

Aspens are quaking in their little golden leaves, and the birch just hang out and turn yellow. 


Autumn is definitely in full swing here in Fairbanks! Everywhere you look there are dozens of yellow and golden brown patches of birch and aspen trees. The spruce provide a steady green color to contrast with the yellows. On the hill above my cabin, a patch of aspens has been changing color together, causing a spilling lava effect over the top and down the side.


The temperature is still very nice and cool but not cold. There was a week of clouds and rain, but the weekend looks fantastic. Saturday may be my day to drive down to Denali and maybe even see the darn mountain! This is pretty much it for fun road trips since school is in full swing now. Man, I wish I could have just a little more time!

So, there may be some new Denali pics coming soon to the blog. Be on your guard! Well, now i must go and set up the lab for next week.


See you later!

Brooks Range Pics Posted

I just got back from camping/hiking in the Brooks Range, and I have some new pics posted under the Alaska Photography page. There might be a write-up to follow. School is beginning in the next few days so I may be very busy.

Dry Cabin Living

The power of the ancient Romans is evident from their technological achievements. Many of their theaters, roads, and bridges still stand as a testament to this fact. Another invention that still stands the test of time is indoor plumbing. At least, that is what I used to think. Alaska is still behind when it comes to embracing this “luxury”.

I am speaking facetiously, of course, but it is interesting to live in a place where living without running water is not uncommon or frowned upon. This can be witnessed by visiting the Laundromat near the University. You can wash your clothes and yourself at the same time in one of four showers for a price. The campus also has several shower facilities available at no cost.

My cabin rests above several feet of soil and permafrost, ground that remains below freezing. If the cabin were to sit on the ground it would trap heat underneath it, melt the underlying permafrost, and subsequently cause the cabin to sink. The permafrost is also responsible for the lack of running water in my cabin.

The cold soil and the extreme temperature swings wreak havoc on underground plumbing. The solution is to purchase water at a cheap price and haul the water back in blue camping jugs (yay, Aqua-tainer!). The Water Wagon is a popular place to fill up your jugs. It operates not unlike a gas station/vending machine.

 
Small change is best for this task since one gallon of water costs 1 ¾ cents! I like to use nickels. The water is dispensed out like gasoline and comes out pretty quickly. Then you just heave the now heavy water jug in the back of the truck/car and head on home. It’s that simple!

 
In my kitchen there is a normal sink with two basins. Underneath is where it gets interesting! There are two one-foot long pvc pipes that run into two large, orange buckets. Brilliant! So, the water jugs (equipped with spigots) sit over the sink and operate like a regular faucet, and the water runs into these buckets.

One important thing to remember, and I must stress important, is to empty out the buckets when they are full. Luckily, I have a tray to catch all of the forgetful drops that pour from the full buckets. This incident has occurred a few times already since I moved up here. The buckets are emptied outside in a spot of your choosing.

Everything else is pretty much the same. Although, most places do not have air conditioning since it rarely gets warm enough to need one. I say that after Sunday’s high was 91 degrees! However, this was a record and only lasted one day. Oil heaters are common for some reason. I have yet to figure out this one. I turned mine on the other day to make sure that it worked. My place still smells like exhaust! There is probably something wrong with mine, though.

Oil Heater

What else am I forgetting? There was something else that was different. Oh, yes, now I remember. I don’t have a bathroom! Well, I should say that I don’t have an INDOOR bathroom. I do have an outhouse. This seems to be a hot topic among Outsiders. My outhouse has four walls, a clear roof, and electricity. That’s all I want to say about the subject because there is not much else to say.

Living in Alaska has changed my way of life a little bit, and it is exciting to try and live differently than what I am used to. Dry cabin living is definitely not for everyone, save for those that crave adventure and being out in nature. Speaking of Nature, I think I hear her calling me. Excuse me. 

Coffee: The Lifeblood of Alaska

In my recent travels around the last frontier state, I have noticed something curious. The people here love their coffee! Never have I lived in a place so infested with coffee purveyors in my life! There are little kiosks on almost every street corner where you can simply drive up in order to get a quick fix. There are also places where you can relax in a leather chair and sip the stuff slowly.

I have found myself patronizing the latter quite frequently since I haven’t purchased one of those obnoxious cable/internet combo packs for my cabin yet. Let me just say that I have reenlisted in the coffee junkie army in a very short period of time. College Coffeehouse was the first place that I discovered here in town. Located ideally across from the UAF campus, this venue offers North Pole coffee, tea, and some sweets to munch on. I go mainly for the Wi-Fi since the next venue has the best coffee I have found thus far.

The Alaska Coffee Roasting Company is my favorite place to go for coffee and much much more. Their coffee comes from all parts of the world and is roasted locally. Their food is excellent as is the atmosphere. Their pizzas are cooked in their brick oven fresh every day, and their selection of pastries is out of sight!

Still, what has turned this place into a giant sludge cup? I suppose the love of coffee is strong here because of the long winter which I am about to endure. Some are optimistic about winter and some are not. Those who are not probably haven’t had their coffee yet.